Parent Story: Retained Primitive Reflexes - Spencer (10 Years)

The Challenge

When Spencer was in Year 4, Lucy and Chris knew something wasn't quite right. Their bright son was struggling with tasks that shouldn't have been so difficult for someone of his intelligence. As teachers themselves, they'd seen plenty of children with learning difficulties, but identifying Spencer's specific challenges proved frustratingly elusive.

The school was very supportive, but the options for further investigation with outside specialists seemed limited and confusing. "They'd say 'it could be dyslexia, this is our contact for dyslexia'," Chris explains. "But we were pretty sure it wasn't that. His reading was fine, his vocabulary outstanding for his age." Without clear direction, they faced months of waiting lists and potentially fruitless assessments whilst Spencer's struggles intensified as schoolwork grew more complex.

The Breaking Point

By the time Spencer reached the end of Year 4, the family's concerns had escalated. What had been manageable for three years was becoming impossible to ignore. "As he got older and the work got more complex, there were things he couldn't compensate for by other means or couldn't mask through being generally relatively bright," Chris recalls.

Spencer had developed anxiety and was showing some dyspraxic tendencies. The school's SENCO was keeping an eye on him, but there was no clear path forward, no comprehensive answer to what was really happening.

The Discovery

Learning DNA's 360 assessment changed everything.

"The 360 pointed towards retained primitive reflexes, which is something we'd never heard of," Chris explains. "It seems to link into quite a lot of the things he was experiencing, including his anxiety and dyspraxic type tendencies."

What made the assessment so valuable wasn't just identifying one issue, it was seeing the complete picture. "The overall report highlighted the areas that were most significant for him and those that were less significant. We could recognise him within that and say, 'Yes, that matches the kid we have at home with us.'"

The Transformation

Spencer is now completing his second round of movement therapy, delivered online with weekly sessions with a Learning DNA specialist. The results have been tangible and measurable.

"We've definitely seen an improvement," Chris confirms. "The therapist is able to go back to earlier sessions and say, 'Look how much it's changed, look at the progress you've made.' You can see him being much more coordinated in week six."

More importantly, the family has seen real-world improvements. "We're seeing the knock-on effect of him being able to handle certain things better than he used to be able to."

The Impact

For Lucy and Chris, the relief of having clear direction is evident. "Without going to Learning DNA and getting signposted in that direction, we could have been circling around the houses, going to different individual specialists trying to work out what the problem was," Chris reflects. "All the while school's getting more complicated and he's getting more distressed at finding certain things difficult."

The assessment's comprehensive approach meant they avoided months, potentially years, of wrong turns. "It signposted us in a direction that we wouldn't even have been aware of," Chris says. "It's fantastic from that point of view."

Whilst the journey isn't complete, the family now has something invaluable: answers, a clear plan, and visible progress. "It may not be the be all and end all, but we've definitely seen an improvement. And it's a road we wouldn't have gone down without that all-around view of the different areas."